Mandarins

Native to southwestern China and northeastern India, mandarins are one of the three original species of cultivated citrus (along with pomelos and citrons) from which other forms derived by hybridization. Taxonomists differ in assigning them either to one species, Citrus reticulata, or to multiple species, based on variations in form. Most mandarin varieties have at least a small degree of sweet orange ancestry, either through natural hybridization, or through more recent breeding; others have some grapefruit in their background.